Nicki Minaj to Mariah Carey: "I'm Gonna Knock You Out"

Can't say we didn't see this coming. Round one of the highly anticipated celebrity grudge match between American Idol judges Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey got underway during Tuesday's audition in North Carolina. In a video obtained by TMZ, the rap queen came out swinging with a verbal barrage filled with stern warnings for the pop legend.

Despite the best efforts of fourth A.I. judge Randy Jackson to play peacemaker, Minaj continued.

"So every time you patronize me, I'ma take it back, and if you've got a f----- problem handle it," Minaj warned as the pop diva continued to talk back. "I told them [producers] I'm not f----- putting up with her highness over there. Figure it the f--- out. Figure it out."

The blow up seemed to stem from growing tension between the first-year judges as they evaluate talent for the upcoming season. According to sources that spoke to TMZ, the Young Money star even threatened to get physical with Mimi.

"I'm gonna knock you out," is what Nicki reportedly said to Carey before the video starts.

What's clear at the end of the clip is that the Queens rapper had reached her boiling point.

"I'm not going to sit here every f----- minute to have you come down here and harass me every minute, every day."

It was reported that Idol producers called off auditions for the day to let cooler heads prevail. While many have speculated that the tenacious divas were signed to multi-million dollar deals, in part, to add some tension to the judge's panel, this first clash may have been too real for TV, and has some Fox execs worried about the beef going into the start of the season in January.

When the new A.I. judges panel was finally announced last month, both stars played down rumors that Carey did not approve of Nicki's signing. Now it seems those whispers and rumblings were true.

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